Mille Porsild

(Denmark) - Program Director, Expedition Leader

Where in the world is Mille now? That is not an unusual question... She is most likely either in the dog yard with the Polar Huskies, on a dogsled, in a classroom or sitting at a table talking to the locals somewhere in the Circumpolar Arctic. That is, if she is not in front of the computer cramming on another adventure learning program, or out talking the GoNorth! adventure learning series up a storm!

Mille is a strong voice for Arctic education. For 18 years she has been traveling in the circumpolar Arctic from Arctic Scandinavia to Alaska, Canada, Russia, and now Greenland, every year on extensive 2-3, even 6 months dogsled expeditions -- while committing herself to education as an instructional designer, writer, photographer and lecturer.

As the Program Director of GoNorth! Mille heads up GoNorth! managing the framework in its entirety, from the design and curricula of the adventure learning environment to the execution of the program live from the field. A forerunner in her field, she was in the trenches to develop and carry it out into reality from the get-go, and is today the leader in the development and implementation of adventure learning programs.

Born in Denmark, Porsild has Arctic exploration in her genes. Her great grandfather, Morten Porsild, was the founder of the first Arctic research station in the world which he placed on Disko Island in Greenland. His sons Erling and Thorbjorn Porsild later moved to Canada where they traveled throughout the Northwest and Yukon Territories by dog teams, managing, amongst others, the renowned Reindeer Expedition and building the Reindeer Station in the Mackenzie River Delta.

Porsild first carried on the tradition in 1992 when she at just 18 years-old joined Polar Explorer, Will Steger, at his Homestead in northern Minnesota to participate in the development of the International Arctic Project 1992-1995 (IAP) -- and on her then first expedition Mille and her team mates were the first to send out text from a tent in the field which was done via a 50-lbs computer and a narrow 10-minute-a-day satellite hook-up.

In 1996 Porsild founded NOMADS Adventure & Education, Inc., committing to combine the motivation of real-world learning and adventure with classroom education, in 2001 delivering the first-ever adventure learning program with NOMADS Online Classroom Expeditions.

A frequent speaker at schools around the world, Porsild has shared her enthusiasm with more than 70,000 students of all ages throughout the United States alone. In person or via the Internet she is a dynamic advocate of the use of education to instill and inspire proactive behavior. As such, in 2005 Mille was the first climate witness appointed by the World Wildlife Fund when she presented to the House of Lords in London kicking off the tremendously successful "Climate Switch" campaign for WWF. Latest, in 2009 in collaboration with UNIP-Grid and Canadian Constant Society, she brought a delegation of students from four Arctic nations to the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen to present climate change seen through their eyes to UN delegates, as well as premier a world-traveling photo exhibit at the Danish National Museum.

To send Mille a note of encouragement or to just to say "Hello" while she is on the expedition. Click here >>